KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 1 — The FBM KLCI remained higher mid-afternoon, climbing 0.43 per cent in line with most regional markets following the better-than-expected reading in China’s manufacturing index.    

Buying interest was seen in most finance and Genting-related stocks.

Genting Malaysia added 20 sen to RM4.36, Maybank gained eight sen to RM10.34, Hong Leong Bank earned 26 sen to RM14.06 while Genting rose 12 sen to RM9.95.

Across Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 improved 337.45 points to 14,005.77, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index advanced 164.17 points to 22,047.83 and Singapore’s Straits Times grew 17.20 points to 3,239.13.  

On the scoreboard, the Finance Index appreciated 75.95 points to 16,824.54, Plantation index gained 9.56 points to 8,327.89 and the Industrial index added 2.93 points to 3,027.69.

The FBM Emas Index advanced 55.64 points to 12,387.02, FBMT100 Index climbed 48.25 points to 12,133.21, FBM Ace Index increased 48.52 points to 5,047.48 and the FBM 70 Index added 39.7 points to 14,196.70.          

Gainers outpaced losers 459 to 207, with 274 counters unchanged, 637 untraded and 13 others were suspended.

A total of 849.276 million shares worth RM1.132 billion were traded.   

Among actives, Daya Materials added 3.5 sen to 28.5 sen, both Sona Petroleum and Flonic Hi-Tec inched up 1.5 sen each to 43.5 sen and 14 sen, respectively while Luster Industries was flat at 9.5 sen.        

In heavyweights, Axiata added five sen to RM6.84, Sime Darby inched up one sen to RM9.49 but CIMB eased two sen to RM7.85, Maxis fell three sen to RM7.08 and Petronas Chemicals shed one sen to RM6.61. – Bernama